Potions, Puppies and Little Fluffy Bunnies
by Hot Pink Butterfly
Summary: The storm showed no sign of abating. The wind howled, blocking out all other sounds apart from the thunder, which rumbled and clapped. The dark clouds, lit up every so often by an abrupt flash of lightning, reached across the sky.


The storm showed no sign of abating. The wind howled, blocking out all other sounds apart from the thunder, which rumbled and clapped. The dark clouds, lit up every so often by an abrupt flash of lightning, reached across the sky. The rain lashed down mercilessly, soaking everything and impairing vision. Suddenly the wind dropped, the rain eased and the thunder quieted. An eerie silence descended in the empty room, interrupted only when a door opened and its sole inhabitant entered. Momentarily, echoes of children's laughter penetrated the solitude, but were silenced with the closing of the door. Severus walked to the window, and let the curtains fall across the window, blocking out any view of the occasional blinding flashes of light that continued outside. It had been a long day and he needed to relax. He headed to the tall coat rack in the corner that held his old-fashioned nightgown and cap, and quickly exchanged his trademark black robes for his green nightgown that had silver snakes embroidered on it so that they looked like stripes from a distance. He picked up the candle holder next to his bed and headed out into his sitting room, where there was a nice fire going.

Severus set the candlestick down and chose a large book from the bookshelf, placing next to the comfy chair by the fire. He then retrieved his mug, filling it what water and making tea instantly with a simple spell. He sat down in the over stuffed chair and open the potions book. Severus slowly relaxed as he sipped his tea and read the book, firelight glinting off the emerald eyes of his fluffy silver bunny slippers.

Once finished with his tea, Severus put his book back and started to grade the First Year's essays. Reading the remarks he put on the essays, one would never know that they were graded when he was at the moment when he was most relaxed. Severus would have argued that he could have used a stiff drink every time he graded essays from the First Years; their writing skills were so atrocious. But unfortunately, Severus needed to remain sober, in case the dark mark burned.

With a sigh of Relief, Severus put down the final essay. As he picked up his candlestick to go to be, he heard a scratching at this door. Wonder what it could be; he cautiously opened it to discover a large black dog in the Dungeon Hall.

"What do you want?" Severus snapped at the dog, which only cocked its head to tone side and perked its ears a bit. "Shoo!"

Instead of leaving, the dog just stood up and pushed its way past Severus and into his rooms. Upset at this turn of events, Severus slammed his door shut. He turned to face the dog, but the dog wasn't there. Instead, there was a tall, dark haired man.

"So. You're back." Severus said to the other man, who snorted, "Looks liked the years have not been too kind to you, Black."

Sirius snorted again. "I could say the same thing to you. What is that you're wearing? It looks like you stole it from your grandmother."

It was Severus' turn to snort. "If you really want to know, it was a gift from Albus. I'm not one to waste gifts."

"So if I get you some matching snake or bunny socks for Christmas, you'll wear those too?" Sirius asked, smirking.

"Ever the cocky Gryffindor, I see." Severus replied with a sneer and a snort.

Sirius grinned and started looking around the room.

"What is it, Black?" Severus demanded.

Sirius turned into his doggy form and started sniffing around the room, eventually changing back into human form after what seemed like a fruitless search.

"No candy, Snivillus?" Sirius asked, giving Severus Puppy eyes.

"And why would I have that sugar filled nonsense in my rooms?" Severus retorted.

"Because it's Halloween, and you're supposed to. For Trick or Treaters."

"In case you haven't noticed, Black, I don't get Trick or Treaters here."

"But of course you do! I'm here!" Sirius broke out into a grin. "Maybe we should go trick or Treating ourselves!"

"Don't be idiotic Black. It's a stupid Muggle children's tradition; there is no way I will take part in it. Ever." Severus stated bluntly, though Sirius was not listening, and was already reaching for his wand. "Black, what are you doing"?

Sirius looked up. He waved his wand and a pair of bunny ears appeared on Snape's head. A mischievous grin crossed Sirius' face and he waved his wand again, this time a fluffy white tail appeared on Severus' backside, while his large, hooded nose shrunk down into a cute bunny nose. A few waves later and Sirius was wearing a pair of puppy ears and wagging a tail of his own.

"Black!" Severus practically yelled.

Sirius just let out a burst of bark-like laughter, and with two more waves of his wand, both he and Severus were the size of an average seven year old. Sirius grabbed the horrified Severus' arm and dragged him to the fireplace where he threw in some floo powder, yelling out "12 Grimmald Place". He shoved the protesting Severus into the green fire before following himself.

Once at his childhood home, Sirius pulled Severus out the front door, accioing a couple pillowcases on his way. It was a perfect night in London. He hauled Severus next door, where he energetically and the doorbell. He glanced over at Severus, who was scowling, and poked him in the side.

"Smile and wiggle your nose Snivillus!" he hissed.

When a lady answered the door, Sirius gave a real sounding "Woof! Woof!"

The lady laughed and cooed over how adorable they were, giving them large candy bars to put in their 'bags'. Satisfied with the loot, Sirius pulled Severus back into the street, where they came across a group of Muggle children. There were ghosts, skeletons and even a witch or two - Severus scowled at them all. They all reached the next house at the same time, and Sirius once again poked Severus into smiling and barked again.

The Muggle children went the other way, so Sirius and Severus were alone on the way to the next house.

"They got it completely wrong." Severus grouched, "Ghosts look nothing like that, and as for that so-called wizards..."

Sirius threw him a stern puppy look, and once again poked him after knocking on the door. Two more realistic barks and a handful of candy later, they were on to the next house. After a while, they had hit all the houses in that square, and were heading to the next section of town. Sirius noticed that with each house, he had to poke Severus less and less. He grinned to himself, and ran in an excited circle at the next house.

Severus slowly relaxed, and even realized he was starting to enjoy himself. There were plenty of Muggle children out and about, and it wasn't like anyone could recognize him or know who he was.

Finally, after several enlarging charms, the pillowcases were entirely full, and Sirius gave a contented sigh. He turned towards Severus, who looked utterly exhausted. Happily swinging his pillowcase full of goodies, Sirius started leading the way back to his childhood home. Severus, a bit more reserved, hefted his own pillowcase on his shoulder and walked behind Sirius, with a small smile on his face.


End file.
